Department of Homeland Security
Taxpayers Foot the Bill for Trump’s Immigration Detention Expansion
The executive orders on immigration enforcement, both along the border and in the interior of the U.S., call for a significant increase in immigration detention. This means more noncitizens in detention, more taxpayer money being spent on detention, and more profits for private prison companies–but less due process… Read More
Immigration Enforcement in Schools, Churches, and Courts: What the Government Can (and Can’t) Do
Following the release of President Trump’s immigration enforcement executive orders and implementation memos, and the recent arrest of a transgender domestic violence victim at a courthouse in El Paso, Texas, there has been widespread confusion about where immigration enforcement can and cannot take place. Questions and concerns… Read More
Abandoning Priorities Just Made Immigration Enforcement Work Much Harder
The Trump administration ensured this week that its immigration enforcement policies will be a chaotic affair marked by mistakes, civil rights violations and overzealous enforcement. They did this by outlining measures that they claim simply return power to immigration agents to do their jobs—measures such as authorizing the hiring… Read More
Supreme Court Hears Case on Shooting of Sergio Hernandez by U.S. Border Patrol Agent
Officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—the federal agency which includes the Border Patrol—are rarely held accountable for their actions. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the case of Sergio Hernandez, a 15-year-old boy shot dead in 2010 in Mexico by a Border Patrol agent who fired… Read More
‘Day Without Immigrants’ Highlights How America Relies on the Immigrant Labor Force
The various events commemorating the “Day Without Immigrants,” held in cities around the country today to fight President Trump’s anti-immigrant policies, underscore a key reality about the United States: we are a nation dependent on immigrants including the undocumented. The Day Without Immigrants was marked by street protests, immigrant… Read More
Immigration Enforcement Under Trump: The First “Surge”
Reports and rumors of immigration raids and round ups have been circulating since President Donald Trump took office. Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed that hundreds were arrested through “targeted enforcement actions,” the agency’s preferred term. The enforcement operations targeted homes and workplaces in at least 12… Read More
Federal Appeals Court Says Muslim Ban Stays on Hold
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the federal government’s emergency request to lift the temporary restraining order halting the implementation of President Trump’s travel ban. The Court rejected the government’s attempt to shield the Executive Order behind national security, explaining that doing so “runs contrary to the fundamental structure… Read More
Homeland Security Secretary Tells Congress Immigration Executive Order Should Have Been Delayed
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary John Kelly testified for the first time since being confirmed by the U.S. Senate in front of the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday in a hearing titled “Ending the Crisis: America’s Borders and the Path to Security.” While the hearing was supposed… Read More
Congressional Efforts to Repeal Immigration Executive Orders
Since President Donald Trump announced his immigration executive orders last month on border security, interior enforcement, halting all refugee admissions and banning nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. for at least 90 days, there has been strong reaction by the public, litigators and on… Read More
New Immigration Court Directive Could Weaken Due Process
The Trump administration released a memorandum this week–effective immediately–which orders the Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review (which manages the immigration courts) to prioritize deportation hearings for certain groups, including any non-citizens who are detained and unaccompanied children who do not have a sponsor. The memo rescinded preexisting… Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
